Today's update includes some hefty PVP changes, like a new Competitive PVP Lobby, a new Practice Mode, and several new maps. We have also conceived some stability improvements to address lag issues.

COMPETITIVE LOBBY

This competitive lobby is for serious players only - level 20 and above. It is found at the left side of spawn and offers a different set of gamemodes and different rewards.

The Competitive Lobby:

Features Defusal, Elimination, and Practice modes, as well as the Dust II scenarios

Has 25% higher post-match rewards per game

Will penalize you if you quit mid-game by forfeiting 50% of your earned rewards

The normal PVP lobby:

Features Demolition, Team Deathmatch, Arms Race, TDM Random Spawns, and Free-For-All modes, as well as all other scenarios

Will no longer penalize you by subtracting 20% of rewards if you quit mid-game

There is currently no stat tracking or ranking systems yet, but they are due to come in a future update.

NEW MODE: PRACTICE

The Practice mode is a variant of the Team Deathmatch mode. It can be accessed only in the Competitive Lobby, as it has more complex rules. It can be played on: Dust, Dust II, Train, Cache, Overgrown

The game lasts up to 4 rounds, but it will end after 3 if one team manages to snatch 3 wins in a row. The team that scores the most kills in each round will win the round. In the first round, everyone starts with $2000 to distribute to their loadouts. Every additional round, everyone earns an additional $2000.

Winning in this mode requires understanding of different weapon types and loadouts, and because it involves such a wide range of combat scenarios, it is a great way to practice for competitive play.

NEW MODE: DEMOLITION

The Demolition mode is identical to the previous Defusal mode, but it occurs only on one-bombsite maps. Unlike Defusal, it is available only in the normal PVP lobby rather than the competitive lobby, as its simple mechanics are suitable for casual play. It can be played on: Lake, St. Marc, Shortdust, Shorttrain, Bank

NEW MAP: ACUMEN (Defusal)

A military port-styled map set on the Hostile island. It features a variety of environments, from close-quarters tunnels to utterly wide-open areas, to make room for a diversity of playstyles.

NEW MAP: AZTEC (Defusal)

A temple-themed Defusal map based on the map formerly available in CS:GO.

NEW MAP: BLACKGOLD (Defusal, Arms Race)

A Defusal and Arms Race map set on an oil rig, based on the Operation Hydra map from CS:GO.

NEW MAP: HARDHAT (Free-For-All)

Previously showcased in the Independence Day event, this Call of Duty inspired map features a complex layout and a lot of open areas for all kinds of weapons to excel in.

NEW MAP: VOLCANO (Free-For-All)

Previously showcased in the Independence Day event, this map is set at a volcano and greatly emphasizes long-range combat.

Dust II has gotten a new makeover to improve both its aesthetics and gameplay. The remake is inspired by the new Dust II map from CS:GO and is sure to make your Rush B experience that much better.

The map also features reworked spawns for the TDM Random Spawns mode, and both its normal and scenario versions have been added to Practice Mode.

PLAYLIST CHANGES

Hydrodam: No longer available in Team Deathmatch

Cache: Now available in Defusal

Bank: Now available in Demolition

Normandy: No longer available in Elimination

Stalingrad: No longer available in Elimination

OTHER CHANGES

Fixed Team Deathmatch sometimes reporting the wrong winning team

Added a team kill counter that displays at the end of a Team Deathmatch or Practice Mode round

Defusal Mode now uses a Defuse Kit as its icon

Temporarily removed Infected for a future rework and to free up space in spawn for the Competitive Lobby

Ended the Independence Day event

Removed block editing permissions from staff members in the arena world to prevent griefing map objects like paintings, item frames, or armor stands (temporary solution to stop DustII from being de_stroyed, until we figure out something better. This also fixes staff going through restricted areas in Mob-Arena maps)

Added some security measures to the Wordpress website to avoid brute-force attacks, which should in turn reduce strain on the MySQL server and resolve lag spike issues